A new culture becomes part of us in 2549

(Cross-posted in the CHAFF Blog.)

Yesterday, was the Thai New Year taking us into the year 2549.

Annikki, Susanna, Asha, along with me, were invited to dinner by Pailin, Unnop and Soda.

The occasion was not only an eye-opener in terms of culture, but Annikki and I now have two more beautiful children and two more wonderful grandchildren, except that one was sadly unable to be present on this occasion.

We were late, as Annikki and Asha had some shopping to do, and after that, Asha had to speak to her dad, Chris, in Billinghay, just to make sure that all was OK.



When we arrived, we saw a beautifully laid out table before us, with a decorative tray of carved fruit and a plate of delicious rice noodles.

Unnop is a master carver of fruits and vegetables. Annikki is certain that the Finns would flock around to learn this art from him.

The rice noodles are a Thai speciality. It is similar to the Idiappam that we have in Kerala. It is served with a fish sauce and can also also be eaten with a curry.

Soda taught Susanna to eat rice noodles with spoon and fork

Soda was eating with us at the table. He guided us through the meal.

Although only 14, nearing 15, Soda is a not only a handsome and loving boy, but also a thorough gentleman. An outstanding footballer and a naturally talented musician, he has also picked up Finnish and speaks it fluently, in just 6 months. His English is excellent and he also reads and writes Thai. But he confessed he was having problems with his Maths!

That is of little consequence for a boy so gifted in so many ways and one who will be a wonderful personality and a true Ambassador of the rich Thai culture and heritage he has brought with him to Finland.

Looking at the picture above, I can see how he has become more powerful in his physique than when I met him 7 months ago. He is growing to be a very strong young man, whom I hope I will be very proud off, just as my four other children.

The rice noodles were eaten in the soup bowl with the fish sauce. Then we ate Satay Chicken roasted on sticks with a delicious and mildly spicy nut sauce. The Spring Rolls were eaten with Thai Sweet Chilli sauce. This was followed by Jasmine rice served with absolutely delicious green curry which is made with plenty of coconut milk.

Knowing that Annikki, Susanna and Asha have a few food restrictions, there were no pork, shrimps, and dairy products in the items served. Yet the meal was tasty and it was Pailin's cooking at its best. (Pailin is a double graduate from Thai Universities - in Home Science as well as Science Education.)

All of us gushed, not only at the quality of the food, but also the beautiful way it was served with both Pailin and Unnop in their Thai robes.


Pailin greets us with a great feeling using the Thai Namaste


Unnop, a wonderful personality

Asha started with the Spring Rolla and the Satay Chicken, which had been made by Pailin for the very first time, but found the fish sauce and the green curry a bit too spicy. Pailin rustled up Asha's favourite, fried rice with chicken and fresh vegetables. It was truly mouth-watering, and I stole a bit from Asha's plate to see what it was like. The taste was even better than what it looked like.


Asha amongst the tulips

We then attacked the fruit bowl, especially the grapes and the carved honey melon.

As the meal came to an end, there appeared a large empty bowl on the table and another bowl filled with fragrantly smelling water.

The time had come to partake of a bit of Thai culture.

We learnt that it is Thai custom to celebrate the New Year with Water. They spray each other with water - something Samu enjoys, as he usually chases Grandpa around the Kampitie garden with the garden spray gun.

But this time it was slightly different.



First, Unnop washed my hands into the bowl and I wiped the cooling fragrant water over my face. I wished him all the best for the future. Then he washed Annikki's hands. This was followed by Pailin and Soda washing our hands. Asha and Susanna also washed our hands. We in turn wished them all future prosperity and happiness. (Silently, I also wished all our absent family members all the very best in the coming years.)

This custom is one that the Thai people show to the people they love and respect.


Annikki, the most wonderful daughter, wife,
mother and grandmother to many

Annikki and I were deeply touched. Pailin and Unnop told us they value us as their parents and love and honour us as such.


Susanna, the eldest, so far, of our brood

Annikki and I are proud to know this couple and their children. We, also, consider them as part of our family. As Pailin and Unnop, we have a few other friends who consider us and value us as their respected elders, but this was the first time we went through a ceremony which publicly stated the love and affection some people have for us.

It made us feel very humble that people can show their love and affection for us so outwardly.

Mika was unable to join this family occasion, so Pailin packed an enormous meal for him.

Our thanks to Pailin, Unnop, Soda and Sodium for becoming part of our family. I am sure those not here, Joanna and family (Samu already considers this to be his best French fries place, just as Asha considers this to be the very best Chicken Wrap place) and Jaakko, also welcome them into our family as loved members.

We wish them all prosperity in the coming years. We hope that Soda and Sodium will grow into being the same loving people as their parents.

Annikki's Freedom

As Hilja went into the Old People's Home after a 5 week stint at home, it was time for Annikki to make a trip out of the home.

This time she was accopmanied by granddaughter, Asha.



They made a visit to Annikki's favourite Fleamarket, the Pentecostal one behind the Pentecostal Church on Uusikatu. Then, they went to a oddments and assortments store, Timari, followed by a visit to the department store, Stockman.

During the time they had their spree at the shops in the city, I quickly made a visit to the Heinäpää heated football grounds to see Soda practicing with the Tervarit 91 Musta side. The Tervarit Senior Musta side was also practicing at the same time.

There was still plenty of snow lying around, as can be seen, both in the foreground and on the little hill behind the pitch.



I was especially pleased to note that Soda is becoming more confident in the way he handles his tacklers. But he still has a long way to go in fitness and speed to be able to make a real contribution to the team with his natural footballing skill.

I rushed back in time to help Annikki and Asha complete their shopping.

When we got home, Asha gave me a belated birthday present - a tea mug with a beautifully printed pattern of a lakeside scene, not only around the exterior, but also on the handle and with a small inlay print. The colours, especially the bright reds and the vibrant yellows, are simply beautiful. I am going to enjoy many a cup of early morning and late evening tea in this mug.

Asha's present - beautiful tea mug

Accompanying it was matching gift card. I am indeed a very lucky granddad to have such beautiful and loving grandchildren.

I have already started using the mug.

Asha and BBC Look North on Home Education

On Monday, the BBC Look North TV News prgramme which serves Lincolnshire and parts of East Yorkshire carried a segment on Home Education, which featured Asha, Susanna and Chris. It was watchable on the computer, but I could not determine how to save the clip. Susanna has it on video and if I can find a way, I shall get the clip onto my computer. Asha really came across really beautifully.

Asha and Susanna arrived in Oulu on Tuesday evening. Part of Asha's "Home Education" is for a few days in my care.

Yesterday was an exciting day for us as we went to the place where all the scrap metal in Oulu is collected. When I had taken Samu there a few years ago, on a similar Home Education binge, they had a crusher which crushed cars into small boxes, but they did not have it there presently. There were plenty of old cars and buses lying around.

Finnish Steptoe & Son


Awaiting crushing


Weighing scale for buying and selling scrap

Asha went wild photographing all the scrap including the metal shavings and the weighing scale on which they weigh scrap if anyone wants to sell some to the yard.


Metal shavings.

Our next port of call was the Zoological Museum of the University of Oulu focuses on northern nature and species, where along one wall you can see the entire topography as well animal life and vegetation in Finland from north to south. There are about 50 000 vertebrate and about two million invertebrate specimens in the museum. Besides the Museum's own collecting activity, authorities and private citizens bring to the Museum wild animals, that they have found dead. The material collected in students' thesis research also becomes part of the Museum's collections.

Asha again went wild with the camera, photographing all sorts of things, from this tiny winter snow "mongoose", correctly known as the "Least Weasel", known in Finnish as the Lumikko to an the elks head along with mine! This white Lumikko is a bloodthirsty animal, accouding to Annikki.


Finnish snow "mongoose", the "Least Weasel",
and known in Finnish as the Lumikko


Brainless heads

I retaliated by snapping Asha with a friend!


Beautiful couple - polar bear with Asha

We met a nice family from South Africa. The daughter is studying in the University and the parents were visiting. I was able to tell them the significance of the wall which was the creation of a single individual over a period of 13 years during the time I was working in the University. Probably the best visit to make when in Oulu to learn something about Finland!

Home Education continues today.

As I was putting this page up, I got information on my hotline from Madras (K. George - Georgie) that niece Shilpa, younger daughter of Mammen (Kunjumonchayan) and Omena Eapen, gave birth to a baby boy who was born today at 6 am Indian Standard Time. Best wishes to the family soon from all of us in Finland and hope you are home . Let us have a photograph of the family soon for the archives.



Talking about babies, as I was waiting for Annikki and Asha at a large department store in Oulu, one of Joanna's good friends from China, who lives in Oulu, walked by with husband, mother, daughter and their new born addition.

Four generation girls at Kampitie

Susaana and Asha arrived yesterday afternoon from England to spend Easter with us. Annikki's mother is at home, so I captured this picture of four generations of girls. Annikki thinks it is hilarious!



Mika looks down at the situation.



Siddarth and three Polish friends, all of whom study at Kuopio University, are passing through Oulu on their way to the north. They spent the night in one of the lovely cottages on the beach, which sleeps 4. The Polish students was amazed at the compact cottage style and one of them was scared to sleep in the attic style sleeping place!

Siddarth and one of his friends resting at the cottage.


Siddarth's Polish friends.

Hope they have a great trip to Lapland and into Norway.

Stupendous news

(Cross-posted on the CHAFF Blog.)

The CHAFF Meeting this Sunday was quite a small affair as most people were recovering from the all night party of last week. I heard that people were wandering home even as early as 5:30 am last Sunday!

However, we were given the most stupendous news at the tail end of the meeting.

Ildikó and Ilari arrived late and broke us the news which was like music to all assembled.

Ilari had proposed to Ildikó on Saturday! And Ildikó has accepted.

It took the form of the treasure hunt, treasure unknown to Ildikó, which led up to the final proposal being found posted on the side of a water filling station in a remote corner of Oulu!

Our favourite young CHAFF couple

Typically Ilari character. He loves to play games.

It is the first CHAFF announcement of marriage news in Finland. Everyone was thrilled.

All of us at CHAFF wish this popular couple all the very best.

Ilari has been a family friend for over 15 years and is one of our family. And we heartily welcome Ildikó into our family.

If they have even half the success of my marriage to Annikki, they will have a great one!

Kaleva publishes picture of my birthday present

Our local newspaper, Kaleva, today published a picture of my hilarious Birthday Present created for me by Annikki.

In a few days it will be in the archives of the Reader's Pictures, but I have scanned in this from the newspaper.



See the picture in my blog entry for 3rd April for a better quality picture.

I still have not stopped laughing at this!

Celebrations in Bangalore

I just had this from Anand Matthan, younger son of my late Godfather George Matthan.

Anand, with Susheela and Pushpa, daughters of Anniekochamma
and Kochupapen and me in a light-hearted mood -
Picture, thanks to Shalu, Anand's wife

Put this date 6th May 2006 on your calendar.

Dear Sushil,

Just thought that I should let you know about the impending 60th Wedding Anniversary of Kochupappen and Anniekochamma. It takes place on 6th May 2006.


(Ed: Anniekochamma and Kochupappen
Picture of Anniekochamma, thanks to Shalu, Anand's wife)

I thought it appropriate all of us who have touched 65 to celebrate this happy event.

We plan to do so at Bangalore Club on that day and even I, in my present state, am planning to go to Bangalore.

I used to make that visit every month but now have done it only once since I was laid low.

This day we will also remember Lalith (Ed: Son of Geeta and Moni, 35 in January, no picture), Joanna (Ed: Daughter of Annikki and myself, presently studying medicine in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 35 in January), Rahul (Ed: Son of Anand and Shalu and a leading lawyer in Bangalore, 35 in January) and Yasmin (Ed: Daughter of Ajit and Omena presently living in Malaysia, 35 in May), who were all born in 1971 and are / will this year be 35.


(Ed: Tony, Joanna), Daniel and
Samuel, June 2005 ©Nirupa)


(Ed: Ajeet, who will be 65, and his family
which includes daughter, Yasmin)


(Ed: No picture OF Rahul
Outstanding picture BY Rahul (Anand's son)
Nandi Hills)

And, of course, the 90th birthday of Chinchai.


(Ed: Chinchaya, my ever young-at-heart Godmother in 1936)

Wish that all of you could be here.

That would have been the icing on the cake, but such is life.

In fact, only Lalith will be there to represent the other three - Joanna being in England, Rahul on a business trip to USA and Yasmin in Malaysia.

Affectionately

Anand

Certainly wish we could be there.

Visit Balu's Blog

Last year, I made a couple of new friends here in Oulu. They had come here from different parts of India to do some language "localisation" for Nokia.

One of them lives in Bangalore with his family and is an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Kannada Studies, at the University of Agricultural Studies in Hebbal. Balakrishna Jnardhana, known more commonly as Balu, is a specialist in languages. I have found of late that he is a great cartoonist and also a brilliant writer.

Balu, Renuka, Anaya, Shashank, Bangalore 2005

Do visit his blog which he is called Balu's Fumbles and you will find not only examples of his cartoons but his distinctive style of writing.

I am including a link to his blog in my list if links to blogs by my friends. A very worthwhile addition as you will note from his latest entry "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately...."

Welcome to our world of blogging Balu.

Puzzle Time of this week

This weeks Puzzlew is not grotesque!



Last week's puzzle was much too easy.

Laughing one's life away

I started yesterday in splits of laughter (see the earlier post), and all through the day I kept giggling to myself, thinking at the shock I got when I looked out of the kitchen window to see that snowman with the "Happy Birthday" sign!

Annikki made a delicious pineapple / peach cake, but we only got to eat it around 10 pm.

Pentti, Pailin and Unnop dropped in just at that time and got a piece of the cake.





They came to see Annikki's garden lights. The lights were truly magnificent.



Pailin got to sit in the snow wigwam!



Annikki showed them the main tools she used to create her snow garden. The shovel and a lot of shoulder power!



And it was way past my bedtime when our really wonderful guests left after having a heart-to-heart chat with Annikki.



It was a really great birthday with the snowman, the 200 or more emails, greeting cards, online greeting cards, telephone greetings with even Ildikó and Ilari singing in Tune greetings over the phone, and our very dear friend Eino Kaitera taking time to give me a call, Skype greetings from many many countries, and even personal visitors at this remote location.

And, the last two people that I got to talk to were grandchildren Asha and Samu - and that was what really made it such a wonderful day for me.

Thank you all for making it such unique occasion. I feel absolutely honoured to have such a wide range of loving family and friends in every corner of the world.

Pailin launches yet another great product

Cross-posted on the CHAFF Blog

Here is stomach-breaking news.

Annikki and i were privileged to taste the latest of the products to find their way into the Pailin menu.

You may be familiar with the Thai Sweet Chilli Kebab Wrap. It is a really convenient and delicious food.

However, the Sweet Chilli Sauce goes best with roast chicken.

This product really gets your juices going.

There are some secrets in this product which make it a new real and major addition to Thai cusine. I am not at liberty to divulge those details, but I understand why this product will really hit the headlines.









I raved over it. When I took one home for Annikki, she thought it was just great.

Annikki! What a woman!

When I woke up this morning and came down for my first cup of tea, I glanced out of the kitchen window, and this is what I saw:



She toiled 6 hours yesterday to create the winter garden that I showed in my previous post. And all for me!

What a wonderful birthday greeting and present - much more than money can buy!

Snowman's snow

Annikki has been waiting for a long time this winter for a day like today. Plenty of fresh snow - it snowed yesterday, a warmish day, and a resulting sticky snow.

I went to see Nageshwari and Kiran, to pick up a computer donated by an Indian engineer, who has returned to India, for a needy student.

Nageshwari and Kiran are Mysoreans. Nageshwari had made some delicious masala dosais and coconut chutney for me! I scoffed four of them.

I took the computer to give to the student, did some important chores en route and when I returned home by 8 pm, I looked out of the kitchen window and found this staring object back at me!



I rushed out to see what had been happening outside. It was evident that I was not the only surprised individual.



Our cat, Iitu, was also surveying the new constructions that had sprung up in our absence!

I tried various combinations on our terrible digital camera to get the true spirit of Annikki's handiwork. Unfortunately it was not possible to do justice to her superb creativity!

Annikki and our neighbour, who also enjoys garden lights and creations, were exchanging notes!

I managed to get this rather strange shot.



And this shot captured the true beauty of the corner of the Kampitie pond corner with the underwater lighting of the pond, the Finnish "kota" (a Laplander's wigwam but made out of snow without any frame or mould) and the snowman who is waving to Annikki's mother, who sits above it looking out of the kitchen window!



With the gruelling schedule that Annikki keeps, looking after the house, looking after her mother, writing articles on social and political issues, changing the insides of the house every other day, I do not know how she has this boundless energy to create stuff out of her "snowman's snow".

Time for a sauna to warm the insides.

Microsoft bugs Google

I do not want to start a typical Microsoft vs Apple battle here, but the focus of Microsoft disruption strategy seems to have shifted from Apple to its largest rival of today, Google.

Sadly, Google is fighting back with its hands tied behind its back, and the do-good goody shoes attitude could result in the downfall of this giant.

The latest was yesterday when the Google Mail programme "gmail" in most parts of the world and "googlemail" in the UK, suffered a major world outage which lasted several minutes.

Reason - the "inability" of the Microsoft "Windows" operating system to handle a simple delay in Australia of the change of the time change from Summer time to Winter time!

This article "Microsoft bug cripples Google quantum-based spam filtering" by Adam Turner appeared in the Australia "The Sydney Herald" on April 1, 2006.

Google's quantum-based spam filtering launch was thrown into chaos today due to Microsoft Windows's inability to cope with Australia's daylight savings changes.

Google's long-awaited quantum-based spam filtering project went online today, continuing the internet giant's tradition of launching new features, such as Gmail, on April 1.

More...

Daylight savings was extended in Australia this year, ending this weekend, to allow for Melbourne's Commonwealth Games - but Windows lacks the flexibility to handle such changes. As such, the analysis of Australian inboxes from Windows users saw the system attempt to process 25 hours worth of data.

The resulting quantum fluctuations created a feedback loop which engulfed London's Supercomputing Methods Experimental Group (SMEG) research centre where the project is based.

More.....

Was this article an April Fool's plant?

If I had not suffered the gmail outage at exactly the Australian midnight hour, I would have thought so.

The gmail programme was unable to do anything, even though I am not running the Windows platform, so the bug was a cross-system one.

Kudos to Google for solving the problem in about 14 minutes (from my personal experience). The dialog kept asking me to try again "in a few seconds", but it was a full 14 minutes before the sytem was restored. If life critical operations based on gmail had to be undertaken at that exact moment of time, there would have been chaos, as 14 minutes is far more than can be borne in such situations!

If, in fact, this chaos was created by the incompetence of people in Microsoft, I think we, along with Google, should have a Class Action suit against Microsoft for disruption of the international computing network because of bad system design.

Anyone interested in joining me on this?

Midi and Mini - What a Flap!

(Cross-posted on the CHAFF Blog.)

I am not talking about skirt lengths!

The Thai Pailin Restaurant (Kenttätie 9, Kasarmi Area) have tested two new products on Annikki and me yesterday - the Midi Flap and the Mini Flap.

It is rather nice to be food tasting test pigs for a good restaurant!

The Midi Pizza Flap







The Mini Pizza Flap
















After the success of their full size Pizza Flap, they have come up with these two products for the not so hungry and the fast-food Pizza addicts with not so much money in their pockets.

And, it is not an unhealthy fast food!

Fast food giant, Macdonald's could take some lessons from this enterprising small restaurant.

It is possible to choose the fillings in these Flaps to your personal taste.

The Mini Flap is ideal for parties. Keep them warm in a hot case and serve them up with an accompanying salad bowl.

Great work - Unnop and Pailin.